Finnick and Annie through the years
by The Demigod Wizard
Summary: I refuse to believe that Finnick died. In the later chapters I will explain what really happened. The title explains itself. This chapter is Finnick's 1st hunger games. 2 reviews and I will update the next chapter. Rated T cuz it's based off of the Hunger Games.
1. Finnick's Games

**Part 1**

"Finnick Odair."

I watch as the guy I love slowly walks up to the podium where Quendy Wilden is smiling. Those people from the Capitol irritate me so much. I think about the odds of Finnick winning the Games. While he is only fourteen, he is also a career, which gives him a better chance of winning. He might get sponsored, too. I personally find him good-looking, but he is thought of as scrawny because of his skinny figure and his big hands and feet that he hasn't quite grown into yet. He has scruffy, reddish-brown hair that sometimes falls into his eyes. One part of his appearance that might attract sponsors is his sea-green eyes.

Finnick hardly even knows that I exist, and he doesn't even know my name. But I remember clearly all of those times when I got made fun of and he was there, sticking up for me. At school, he is in two grades above me, so we don't clash often, but he never hesitates to tell the bullies to stop picking on me, and that's why I like him.

As for me, I get picked on for many reasons. I am scrawny and I have unevenly cut brown hair that falls just below my shoulders, and I always wear it in a knot on the back of my neck. I am too thin because our main food source is fish and I am allergic to it. That's why I always get more tesserae. Having seven brothers and sisters, I am in the exact middle, but I am the only one eligible for the reaping. My name was in 43 times this year, but I was safe.

As Finnick walks up to the stand, I am filled with anger. Nobody volunteered, not even someone who trained for this. I suppose that people enjoy drama. I tug on my too-bright, canary yellow, strapless dress, wishing for the usual baggy shirts and pants that I wear, and I know that I will visit Finnick before he enters the Games.

**Part 2**

My family leaves the room, and I am suddenly aware of the fact that I am going to die soon. Now that I am alone, fear washes over me, and I yearn for some sign to comfort me. That sign enters the room next.

She is gorgeous in a yellow dress with hair braided back. She seems nervous. I smile at her, and I laugh. "Do I know you?" I ask her casually. She blushes, but she speaks in a loud, clear voice. "I'm Annie Cresta. And I suppose that you could say that you know me. You've stuck up for me many times when I was made fun of, so I just wanted to thank you and wish you luck for the Games. Why did you laugh?" I smile. "Oh, well…" I blush, but I tell the truth. "You just sort of snuck up on me, in a way. Are you _sure _that I've met you before?" Now, she's the one who laughs. "Yes, I'm pretty sure. So, uh, good luck."

She begins to leave, but I stop her. "Wait, Annie!" She looks at me. "Please don't leave yet. Um… None of my friends from school have come to visit me, and…Oh, I might as well tell you; I'm almost dead anyway." I swallow and I continue. "The truth is, I'm terrified and lonely. I'm only fourteen and I'm not ready to die yet." I fight back tears after spilling my guts to a girl that I just met.

Her eyes soften. "Finnick," she whispers. She then returns to her clear tone. "You're a career, so you have a better chance than most. Plus, you're strong and you can swim, so you'll survive the bloodbath. And, well, um, you're not ugly, so you'll have sponsors lining up at the door." I give her a teasing grin, but her comment and her blush makes me heart leap. "Oh, so you think I'm-" I'm cut off by the Peacekeepers lifting her up and taking her away. I grab her hand. "FINNICK!" She screams before she is pulled away. "GRAB A BACKPACK OR SOMETHING AND THEN GET AWAY FROM THE CORNUCOPIA! JUST DO IT! PROMISE?"

"I PROMISE!" I scream, and suddenly she is gone. All I know is that I want to win these games for two reasons:

I want to see my family again.

I want to get to know Annie Cresta.

Hours later, I am heading to dinner on the train. I smooth out my green colored shirt and brown pants before entering the room. We are served thick, delicious food that I take large helpings of. There is a thick lemon-butter soup, greens with yellow corn, a lamb and dried plum stew on rice, salty crackers, and an apple dessert with a brown crust. Quendy calls it pie.

After dinner, I am heading back to my sleeping quarters when I am stopped by my district counterpart, a strawberry-blond-haired girl named Onnellae who is 17 years old. She gives me a look. "We need to talk. Meet me on the roof."

I meet her back on the roof, and I see that she has a brown basket in her arms. "I ordered these from an Avox," she tells me. "They're called cookies." We nibble on the treat. She prefers the lemon ones while I prefer the brown-sugar-and-cinnamon ones. "So," I ask, "Why did you call me up here?" She gives a hollow, bitter laugh. "Isn't it obvious? Finnick, one-or both-of us is getting killed in there. I don't see why they have to glamorize us for it.

"If we go with the other careers, we'll be safe, but I don't want to be a killer. I'll let them do that. Fin," She is giving me a nickname already, probably because we are practically on our deathbeds, "I don't want a painful death at the hand of one of them. When we join up with them, they will end up betraying us." She hugs her long, skinny legs. "Just promise me, that if one of them is going to kill me, you'll do it instead. So I can die with dignity." I am so appalled that I give her a nickname, too.

"Onn, I could never. I just met you. I can't kill you!" She is desperate now. "PLEASE! I'd do it for you!" I smile grimly. "Fine. You do it for me; I do it for you." She hugs me in a sisterly way. "Let's just stay partners, okay? If it comes down to the two of us, let's not go after each other." I nod. "Done."

The night when we meet our stylists, one mentor works with Onnellae, and the other, Mags, works with me. She and I become very close very quickly. She is like the grandmother I never had. "Good luck, Finnick," she tells me.

**Part 3**

I'm watching Finnick as he is carried through the chariot with Onnellae. He looks amazing. He is shirtless in a pair of cargo fishing shorts with leather sandals on his feet and a fishing rod propped over one shoulder. Onnellae is beautiful in a white, floor-length dress coated in shells, and she reminds me of sea-foam.

All of District 4 cheers as they appear on the screen, and I am shoved into someone. The town square is packed. The tributes that stand out to me are the huge boy from 6, the pretty girl from 2, and the cruel boy from 5. The Games are on.

I am now back home and in bed. I hope that Finnick survives.

**Part 4**

I scoop up a spear, a knife, and a blue backpack and I begin running away from the Cornucopia. I am only thinking of Annie. Onnellae and I agreed to meet up at a water source where we would make an alliance, but right now, I am alone.

I run, but I'm not as smooth on land as I am in water, and I trip over my feet several times. When I'm so exhausted that I can't take it anymore, I use my last bit of energy to hoist myself up several branches on the big tree. When I am high enough to rest for the night, I notice something peculiar that you can only see from this high: the center of the tree is hollow.

I slide into the room-sized hole in the tree and I decide to look through my backpack. There is dried fruit, dried beef, crackers, cooked potato slices in a bag labeled _Lays, _coil, rope, a thick blanket, a small flashlight, a tiny bottle of iodine, a large gray shirt, an extra pair of socks, and a small, empty canteen. I know how lucky I am (on everything except for my bare canteen), and hope begins to build up in chest. I nibble on a potato slice and I begin to fall asleep, when the cannons go off. I climb to the top of the whole to see the faces across the sky.

Both from 3 are dead, as well as both from 7, the girls from 5,6, and 11, and the boys from 8,9, and 10. I am surprised that the District 12 tributes-usually first to die-have managed to survive the bloodbath. With ten tributes dead, that leaves both from 1, 2, 4 (Onnellae and me), and 12, the boys from 5,6, and 11, and the girls from 8,9, and 10. I yawn and go to sleep.

The next morning, I decide to leave my tree and look for water, but I decide to leave the socks and a quarter of the fruit in the tree, wrapped in a leaf, just in case my pack is taken, so that I have somewhere to go back to. I also discover that there are pockets on the inside of my purple jumpsuit, so I store the food in there along with the flashlight, a length of the rope, the iodine, the canteen, and a bit of coil. I keep the rest of the stuff in my knapsack, except for the shirt which I put on under my jumpsuit.

Several miles away is a stream. I scoop water into my canteen along with several drops of iodine, and after pouring the potato slices into the bag with the crackers, I pour water into the _Lays _bag with some iodine. After waiting a long time, I drink a whole canteen-full of water, and then the whole bag-full of water, and after refilling them with water and iodine, I move upstream.

"FIN!" Onnellae hisses. I jump up and embrace my ally. She is covered in scratches, bruises, and blood. "I-I was a-attacked by the boy from 6 and I b-barely got out alive. Fin, he's scarier th-than the careers. He likes to kill you s-slowly and p-painfully. W-we n-need to join up with the others. Right a-away." I nod, and as if they can read our minds, they show up at the edge of the stream.

I duck when a spear is thrown at my head, and I try to seem unafraid. "Hey," I say. "We're from 4. Wanna be allies?" The boy from 1 nods and looks at his allies. "Well?"

"Done." The others nod. "I'm Lentil," says the blond boy from 1. He gestures to his blond counterpart. "And this is Star." He nods to the girl from 2 who starts talking as she pulls her caramel-colored hair into a ponytail. And I'm Ysamay, and this is Ko. But we don't have much time. We need to find somewhere safer to go." I don't tell them about my tree. It's too risky. Instead, we find a cave.

"We should start hunting for food," Onnellae suggests. Lentil looks at her and nods slowly. "Onnellae and Ysamay"-we told them or names last night-"Will do that, and I will go with Star and Finnick to get rid of competition." Tears come to his eyes, but he blinks them away. "None of us _want _to be killers. Actually, I think that this year is the only year where nobody volunteered to be in the Games. We're only here because the Capitol put us here. I don't want to kill anyone, but they'll kill us if we don't get them." We all nod in consent, and we leave, making sure that Ko is okay with staying back and watching the cave for now. We only pick him because he has a bad leg.

After I spear the boy from 5, and Star kills the girls from 9 and 10 while the others keep guard, we are heading to the cave when a thump stops us. There is a shiny, silver parachute with a large, green trident. Lentil laughs. "Looks like you've got great sponsors, Finnick," he jokes, but I can tell that it hurts his feelings. "You'll get sponsors soon enough," I promise, but I then ask, "How do you know who it belongs to?" "Because," says Star, "It's the symbol of your district, and Onnellae is hunting, so you're the only one from 4 here.

Just before we enter the cave, a cannon-shot goes off. We are only back in time to see the boy from 6 eating Ko's heart. "NO!" I scream, and I spear my trident through his body, but it bounces off of his shield-suit. His sponsors. Instead, Star grabs the remains of Ko's heart and we all run out of the cave.

We bury the remains of our ally's heart by the stream and refill on water after meeting up with Ysamay and Onnellae. Between them, they have 5 groosling, 10 fish, and some roots. We split up the food so that we each have a groosling and two fish. We explain what happened to Ko.

"THAT JERK!" Ysamay screams. "I WILL KILL TITUS EVEN IF THAT KILLS ME!" After recovering from the shock, I ask, "Titus?" Ysamay nods. "That's the boy's name. Thanks for, well, what you did for Ko." After we buried the heart, we put a large stone over it and surrounded it with wild flowers. On the stove, we had written in flower juices, _Here lies the heart of Ko, a boy from District 2. May he rest in peace. _

We return to the Cornucopia, but we're horrified by the sight of Titus eating the girl from 8's heart. "NO!" Onn looks up at the sky. "DO YOU REALLY WANT TO ENCOURAGE CANNABALISM?" She screams at the Capitol. Titus hears her and runs toward us. The others sprint away, but Onnellae keeps screaming and I stay guard. "DO SOMETHING, SENECA! GET RID OF TITUS!" He pounces at Onn, put when he hits the ground, he is dead.

Onn and I run off. "Thanks for sticking with me," she says. "Looks like we only have each other now," I reply, and I take her to the tree. We watch the six faces flash across the sky. First Star, then Ko, then the boy from 5, then Titus, then the girls from 9 and 10. Star must've died after they left us. We eat some fruit and a fish each, take some sips of water, and fall asleep while I think about the remaining competition. There is Lentil, Ysamay, both from 12, the boy from 11, the girl from 8, and of course Onn and myself. I yawn and let sleep overtake me.

I wake up with the sensation of feeling like I'm drowning. I stuff the fruit and socks into my backpack and I hurry to wake up Onn. But we are not drowning in water. We are drowning in her blood. The district 8 girl is about to stab me but I pierce her heart with my trident and shove her dead body out of the tree after taking her backpack.

"ONN!" I scream. I wipe the blood off of her face and wrap her in the blanket. I carry her down to the ground and run to the stream. I pour water onto her wounds, but she is nearly dead. "Finnick," she says, "I am going to die." I shake my head, but I know that she has too much blood pouring out of her neck. "Onn," I whisper, "You're a great friend. I couldn't have made it this far without you." She hugs me. "Win this thing," she whispers. I clutch her hand and she closes her eyes. They never open again.

I don't want to leave her like this, so vulnerable and hopeless. I braid her hair back, weaving flowers through it, and I tie the blanket over her after washing her body in the river and throwing her blood-caked jumpsuit away. The blue blanket looks like a dress on her, and I put her body on a pile of weeds after saying my good-byes. My tears fall and I scurry away. Now I have shown that this is more than just a game.

The next hour is uneventful, and I spend it in the top of a tree nibbling on dried fruit. I observe the arena and discover that it is shaped like a bowl, and the dangers seem to be on the outside. I decide to stay on the inside, but I know that most tributes will be there.

I climb down from the tree. The boy from 12 is approaching me. He is small and I want to help him. I see a shape behind him. "DUCK!" I scream, but it's too late. Ysamay pulls his spear out from his stomach, and she looks at me. "Because we never broke the alliance," she says, "I'll give you ten seconds to run, and then I'll kill you." I bolt out of there quickly.

I'm at the stream when the boy from 11 is about to kill the girl from 12. These Games are terrible. I throw my trident into the boy's body and I let the girl who looks about 17 run away. I feel bad about her district counterpart dying.

At the end of day 3, Onnellae is dead, the boys from 11 and 12 are dead, and the girl from 8 is dead, and the girl from 12 is dead too. Ysamay and Lentil must've gotten her, and I know that I am their next target. I don't bother sleeping. I decide to go and find them.

**Part 5**

With only three people left in the Games, the Games are heating up. I'm really proud of Finnick and what he did for Onnellae and Ko, and how he didn't kill anyone unless they attacked him first, with the exception of the cruel guy. The Capitol tried not to show Ko's gravestone or Onnellae's braid, but you saw them when the body was taken by a hovercraft, and I can tell that Finnick did it.

Finnick might actually win these Games. He has to win.

**Part 6**

They are surrounding me. The candy-pink birds are pecking at every inch of my body, and I swing my trident around, desperate to get rid of them. I stab one, then another, but there are too many. I remember hearing somewhere that iodine is poisonous if you swallow it without water. With one hand fighting off the birds, I use the other to grab the iodine. I pour it into their beaks, and pretty soon they are dead. I run and I hear a cannon. Someone must've died from the birds.

I find Lentil at the stream. He laughs when he sees me. "Finnick, I'm four years older than you, and I'm twice as strong as you. You can't possibly expect to beat me, can you?" His spear goes into my leg, but my trident goes straight through his stomach. The cannon goes off.

I pull the spear out of my leg and crawl away, but a hovercraft lifts me up and I am put into it. As I fall asleep, I hear Mags whisper, "Congratulations, Finnick. You won the Hunger Games."


	2. The friendship builds

**Part 7**

_Knock, knock. _I hurry to the door, and he stands there, a smile on his face. The Games ended a month ago. "Hi, Finnick," I say. I know that I look horrible in my nightgown with my hair down, but I don't care at the moment. "Hello, Annie." I smile when he says my name.

"Congratulations on winning the Huger Games," I say slowly. He laughs hollowly. "Some win. Annie, I killed innocent people." I shake my head. "But it was only because they killed others, or because they set out to kill you. Finnick, you didn't kill them. The Games did it." He shakes his head. "But Annie, I shouldn't have won." I pat his shoulder. "But you're strong."

I can't help but notice how much he has grown in the last month. He is several inches taller and he has grown into his hands and feet, mostly. He is too young for the citizens of the Capitol to be falling all over him, but they all love him anyway. He is still thin, but he has some muscle now too. I feel embarrassed to be looking like this in front of someone this beautiful.

"Let me change into some clothes," I say, "And then we can talk in the living room." He touches my arm. "You don't need to. I won't be long." I go and change anyway.

I hate the fact that I never used to care about my appearance and that I have no fancy clothes. I put my hair into its usual knot and settle on a green shirt and gray pants.

I enter the room and sit across from him. "So?" He smiles at me. "I wanted to say thanks for your advice." I shrug. "It's no big deal. You stuck up for me and I kind of did owe you. I still do." He waves his hand. "You don't owe me anything."

I say what I'm thinking. "So why you come here in the middle of the night?" I ask. He sighs. "I wanted to ask you to come and see the recap of the Games with me. I need to see it before my tour, and, well…" "Of course I will see it with you."

When I get back home, it's 5 o'clock in the morning. Finnick and I sat on opposite chairs in his house watching the Games for hours. I hated seeing all of those deaths, but I understand that it must've been worse for Finnick. I was probably the only one who would be willing to see it with him, and that's probably why he asked me.

**Part 8**

The Victory tours were painful. I hated seeing the family and friends of those that I killed. Winning the Hunger Games is awful. The only good part is seeing my family and Annie again. I don't really have any real friends. Before the Games, nobody spoke to me, and I sat alone a lot. Now, people are fake friends with me for publicity. Annie is the only one who was kind to me before.

She and I become close friends. Over the next year, when we're not working, we hang out at the shore, the beach, or the river. Not a day goes by where I don't see her. I know that she thinks of us as friends, but I can't get rid of my feelings for her.

**Part 9**

Finnick and I are close friends, and even though he thinks of us as just friends, I can't get rid of my feelings for him. We always hang out, tell stories, and laugh together. Now I am thirteen and he is fifteen.

One day, when we are going for a swim, a shark comes at us. I clutch his hand. "Finnick!" I scream. We swim toward shore, but I don't let go of his hand until we reach the shore. But when I'm letting go, he doesn't. I grin at him and we walk across the beach, talking and holding hands.

Months after that, we are sitting on the beach one day when he leans in and kisses me. I kiss him back. When we break apart, I smile at him. "I've liked you ever since that day when I was ten and you stuck up for me," I whisper. "I won the Games to be with you," he replies. I put my arms around him.

"Annie," he whispers, "When I'm sixteen, President Snow is going to make me have fake relationships with girls from the Capitol, or-or he'll kill you and my family." This takes a minute to sink in, but Finnick continues talking. "Only guess what? Beetee, the victor from 3 with the wire, he built a robotic body that will pretend to be me and that body will have the relationships. It even talks." I touch his cheek. "Finnick, you're doing all that to keep me alive? I don't want to be the reason you get a bad reputation. It's not fair to you." "Annie," he says, "It's for my family, too. It's better this way." I grin. "Okay, Finnick." I kiss him again.

**Part 10**

"Annie Cresta." 4 years have passed since Annie Cresta became my girlfriend, and now I might lose her. I will for someone to volunteer for her, but no one does. She has to win these Games.

I knock on the door and enter. Annie hugs me. "Boc is my counterpart," she tells me, even though I already know, and I feel awful for her. Boc is her 12-year-old cousin.

"I don't want to enter the Games."

"I know."

"I don't want to fight Boc."

"I know."

"Should I try to defend Boc and let myself die?"

"NO! Protect Boc and yourself. I believe in you."

"I'll try."

"I love you, Annie."

"I love you, too, Finnick."

I hug her, and the peacekeepers are pulling me out, but I throw the necklace at Annie. "THIS IS YOUR TOKEN! REMEMBER, USE YOUR ADVICE!"

"I WILL!"

And I am pulled away.


	3. In the Capitol

**Part 11**

I shift my feet. "_This _is dinner? How much does it cost?" Quendy giggle-squeals. Huh-n_eeee_, that's so _sillllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllll-_leeeeeeee! The Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-pit-olllllllllllllllllllllllllll l gives this fooooooooooooooooooooooood to tribuuuuuuuuuuuuutes for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeee!" I glance at Boc and reply in her too-cheery Capitol accent. "Welllllllllllllllllllllllll, that's just fab-eeeeeeeeeeeee-yooooooooo-lous!" Quendy smiles. "That's the ssssssssssssssssssssspirit, Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeti e!" Boc burstsout laughing. It is he first time he has smiled all day. Boc and I sit down and get large helpings of greens with red onions and a sweet dressing, breaded chicken, mashed potatoes seasoned with garlic, buttered corn, and thick, chocolate fudge. "This is delicious," Boc whispers"I know. Meet me on the roof tonight." "Okie dokie."

Finnick had told me about the roof, and he was right: it was a great place to escape to. Like Finnick once told me about, I order brown-sugar-and-cinnamon cookies. Boc and I eathem and talk .

"Annie, I don't wanna enter the arena."

"We're gonna be okay. Look-once the timer's up, you're gonna run to either a tree, mountain, body of water, or something to keep you hidden. If it's a tree, climb. If it's a mountain, climb. If it's water, go under and stay under, and only come up when you need a breath, then go back under."

"What about you and-?"

"I will run to the cornucopia and collect some supplies, then I'll meet you there. We'll figure it out from there."

"But-but other people usually volunteer for this! Why didn't they this year? Like, the people that spend years trading?"

"I don't know. Maybe the Capitol wanted this sort of thing. Like, young people or whatever."

"I guess."

"Good night."

"Night, Annie."

The next night, we have opening ceremonies. Our mentors, Velvet and Gage, split up and talk to us. My stylist, Poetta, gives me a dress made completely of pearls, along with a pearl neckace and a pearl tiara. "That's our sea theme," she gushes. "Now, each tribute should have a _thing. _You know, that the audience will rmember.

"Huh?"

"Yes. Yours is your hair."

"My-?"

"You have the most beautiful hair color-chocolate brown. Now, let me trim your hair and add some gloss."

"Okay...why?"

"Your hair is going to be what sponsors think of when they think of you. For example, I'll name a victor and you'll name their thing."

"Fine."

"Beetee."

"Wire."

"Haymitch."

"Forcefield."

"Finnick."

"Um...Trident?"

"Good!"

"But that's how they won. How's my hair gonna make me win?"

"Trust me."

"Fine."


	4. The Interviews

**Part 12**

As a victor, I'm a special guest for the interviews. I sit in the audience and listen to them. "Ladies and gentleman, the tributes of the 70th Annual Hunger Games!" The people of the people burst into applause, filling me with disgust. "I hate the games," I whisper to Mags. She knows I love Annie. "I know," she replies, "But it'll be okay." I sigh. "I hope Velvet and Gage know what they're doing." "They do." The interviews start."

The girl from 1 walks up, smiling and flipping her golden hair. "Rose Million!" applause. Caesar talks to her, the 1 guy, and some others from 2 and 3, then finally Annie is up. She wears a sea-green evening gown that brings out her eyes. "Annie Cresta!" Applause.

"So, Annie, is that really your cousin entering with you?"

"Yes, Caesar." She speaks loudly and clearly.

"Did you two talk about this?"

"Not really, but we're not going to let this come between us." She's good at this.

"I see. Are you nervous?"

"Nah, I'm ready." She's really good at this.

"I see. So, Annie, you look really gorgeous tonight."

"Thank you, Caesar."

"Is there a lucky boy in the picture?"

I hesitate, but I know that Annie will keep the secret to keep us all safe. "Mayyyyy- eeeeeeeeee," she says in a sing-song voice. She pauses. "I mean, do you all reeeee-alllllllllllyyyyyyyy want to knoooooooooooooow?" The audience cheers. "Okay, there _is _a boyfriend." She gives a camera-blush and the audience eats it up.

"Well, I hope you see him again. Time's up, but let's have a round of applause for Annie Cresta!" Applause. Next, Boc comes up. "Boc Cresta!" Applause.

"Are _you _ready for the games, Boc?"

"Of course, Caesar." Acting must run through their blood.

"Well, you're young-how do you plan on getting through this?"

Boc sets his jaw. "I may be young, Caesar, but I'm tough."

"I see that. Are you prepared to compete against your cousin?"

"You know, Caesar, Annie and I may both be entering the arena, but we're not going to be competing _against _each other. We'll be competing together, and we're going to do the best we can to protect each other and ourselves." The Capitol audience broke out in a chorus of "a_wwwwwwwwwwwwww_"s. They were eating it up. Boc's interview ended, and soon, all of the interviews were over. Annie had to win.


End file.
